[SOLVED] Is the RTX 2070 Safe to Buy Now?

[ManOfArc]

There were early rumors of the RTX 2070 cards dying, along with some lesser issues. Do you think the current batch like the ones sold at the Egg would be OK now?

 

[Eximo]

I think there were problems with early 2080Ti, not sure I recall anything with the 2070. And nothing new has been reported on the issue in some months.

That is no guarantee there aren't bad ones out there. That is always a possibility.

 

[R4DIO4CT1VE]

I don't think the 2070s had that many issues...

Odds are you will be fine.

 

[ManOfArc]

OK. Thanks guys. Makes me feel better about getting one. I read last year that all the RTX were having trouble, but there hasn't been anything in the tech news lately.

 

[ManOfArc]

Followup question:
Would a stock Ryzen 5 1600X bottleneck a RTX 2060?
(1080p/60hz now, 1440p/60hz later)

 

[Eximo]

Not significantly.

There are always bottlenecks, but there are so many variables. What matters is if the delivered performance is acceptable to you.

Some games are CPU bound, others GPU bound. And you can always adjust settings to flip it the other way. Particularly toward GPU bound by running high settings or upping the resolution.

What you should do is attempt to find benchmarks for the games you are likely to play. Look at the GPU benches for a rough estimate of what game performance will be like. You'll find most reviewers are still using older CPUs for their bench suite. Either older X99 platforms and I think a few still running Kabylake.

There are certainly more comprehensive ones out there where both Intel and AMD are used, but many games are picked for their consistent benchmarks and not necessarily gameplay.

Best is to find someone with your exact hardware or close to it on Youtube. (Keep in mind the video is compressed so it will always look fairly smooth, you will want to look at the FPS numbers on the screen)

 

[ManOfArc]

Thanks, Eximo. Maybe I should have asked if the RTX 2070 was a good choice or not.

 

[Eximo]

RTX2070 is certainly a good choice for 1440p@60hz. RTX2060 is also enough for now, but maybe not as game demands rise. RTX2070 is a little overkill for 1080p, but you could always run with v-sync off and see how many FPS you get. When the frames are fast enough, tearing isn't all that bad.

If you can afford the more expensive card it should last longer before needing a replacement. That is something you have to decide on. Do you target an upgrade cycle or wait until there is something you want to run that you can't? Look for technological milestones and buy into that? RTX, next process node shrink?

Many people ride the mid-range cards. Never spending too much, but updating a little more often.

I like to buy a larger card and keep it until it is nearly worthless. We both end up spending about the same, but the bigger cards let me run high end stuff at launch without compromising. Now my current system I am always compromising since my card can't deliver 144FPS 1440p on the latest games, but everything is still above 60FPS easily. And I play many older titles, or titles with less demands, and there I get the benefit of my monitor.